Reading for 1st class

Read the text about work in 19^th century England. Fill in the gaps in the text with the sentences below. There is one extra sentence.

A In textile factories children had to clean under the machines while they were working.

B However, domestic service was the biggest employer for young women.

C In addition, there was no limit on the hours that people had to work.

D But in fact, conditions in the factories and new towns were often much worse.

E Children under nine were no longer allowed to work at night, and the working day of children under eighteen was limited to 12 hours.

Britain was the workshop of the world for over a century, but the new working class didn’t have an easy life. The poor from the countryside went to new cities like Manchester in search of a better life. (1) _____ Entire families lived in tiny houses or single rooms. Disease spread through bad water and killed large numbers of people.

People of all ages had to work – there was no real difference between adults and children. Children as young as seven worked up to eighteen hours a day six days a week. Children and women worked in the mines pulling loads of coal. (2) _____ Slaves probably had better lives.

Mines and factories were extremely dangerous places and there were often accidents caused by unsafe machinery. (3) _____ The materials they worked with were often extremely dangerous too – girls who worked in match factories became ill due to working with phosphorus.

Although not all employers used their workers, the new regulations concerning the employment of children became law only in 1833 and 1844. (4) _____ The labour and trade union movements gradually improved conditions for all workers, including children.